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Cape Town - While struggling with a roller coaster of emotions as her estranged husband, Joost van der Westhuizen, slips from being awake one moment to being under sedation the next, Amor Vittone is furious.

Van der Westhuizen, a former Springbok, was rushed to hospital on Saturday in a critical condition. He has been fighting motor neuron disease since 2011.

Amor is angry because she has been accused in social media that she is using the publicity surrounding Joost for personal gain.

"It is terrible to see on Facebook how people are judging me," she told Netwerk24.

"I am furious to see people say such things in public if they haven't experienced it themselves," Vittone said on Sunday afternoon after spending about 12 hours at Joost’s bedside on Saturday. "They can vilify me, but I will build an empire with the stones they throw at me."

One of the accusations made against her in a Facebook post was that she was "cashing in" on the publicity surrounding Joost and that he had, in fact, already died on Saturday.

"I'm not going to give up without a fight," she said, but added that the whole thing was depressing and came at the worst possible time. "But we are there for Joost and will be stronger after this."

She said she was trying to keep their children Jordan, 13, and 10-year-old Kylie’s routine as normal as possible.

"They must know what is going on with Joost. They've seen his health decline over the years," she said. Vittone added that the children appear to be handling the situation well and showing wisdom beyond their years.

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